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User blog:Fimber/Elements of classic literature and religion in "Merlin"
I don't know if anyone is even interested in this but there were quite some situations and also character descriptions that reminded me of some well-known elements of either literature or even real life religion. I'd like to start with''' Uther because some other characters of Merlin were also similar to some characters of the same literature I'm reffering to. To me, Uther was a mixture of Captain Ahab, Don Quijote and also a bit of Faust. He combined Ahab's desire for vengeance, Don Quijote's wasted effort to fight what can't be defeated and Faust's deal with the "devil" (Nimueh/the Old Religion) that cost the life of his beloved wife. And still Uther was a new and brilliant invention and not only a revision of other characters. In reference to this, 'Arthu'r reminded me partly of Ahab's chief mate Starbuck, the one who tried to bring Ahab to senses, who disapproved of his vengeance and who motivated the crew. '''Gaius had something in common with Ishmael, the wise and sophisticated sailor who joined Ahab's ship, yet disagreed with his methods but remained silent most of the time. Ishmael was also the only one who survived the voyage which is close to Gaius' character since he was one of the few who survived the Merlin story. Morgana could (sadly) be compared to the Erinyens, and I have to say to all of them, ever since they turned her evil (which I think was a shame). Alecto "the implacable or unceasing anger", Megaira "the envious wrath" and Tisisphone "the avenging death". Morgana combines all characteristics of the three goddessess within her character. I couldn't find anything other that or who could be compared to Merlin except maybe Martin Luther up to a certain point. I really don't want to get religious here (personally, I'm not religious at all) but to me, up until the terrible and incomprehensible finale of "Merlin", it almost seemed as if Merlin was up to creating a new form religion/practiced magic that reminded me a bit of Martin Luther's reforms that liberated many believers from the strict dogmas of the catholic church while Luther was a man of the church himself - and this could have been Merlin. Being a man/creature/member of the Old Religion, yet creating reforms that would have provided a solution to the incompatibility of the harsh and cruel Old Religion/Triple Goddess and those who wanted to practice magic and live freely without being persecuted or punished. Shame they didn't follow that line but wasted this chance in the end by making him obssessive about Arthur. The story of''' Arthur and Gwen''' had a bit of Romeo & Juliet when Uther was still alive, and the demand of the''' Disir to have Arthur submitting to the Triple Goddess in order to prove himself and to avoid the goddess' wrath reminded me of God's demand to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac in orer to prove his love for God. However, at least in the bible God prevented Abraham from killing Isaac whereas the Triple Goddess made her threat come true. I'm sure there is even more I just don't recall right now - and unfortunately, I didn't see any similarities to '''Gwen's character. Does anyone have other or additional ideas as to how to compare the Merlin characters to either literature or real life religion/philosophy? Category:Blog posts